Brogan Franklin - "The Mad-Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow" (attributed to Ben Jonson)

            The Mad-Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow is attributed to Ben Jonson (1572-1637) and was written at a time when the Robin Goodfellow/Puck character had gained additional popularity in England due to its appearance in plays such as William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Although this ballad's presentation of Robin Goodfellow as a crude and mischievous hobgoblin fits with how the character is described in common English folklore, Allen W. Wright notes in his article "Puck Through the Ages" that this depiction of "Robin Goodfellow" is much different than Shakespeare's civilized and sanitized version of "Puck."

            One philosophy that I applied to translating this text was to modernize all of the spellings so that it became much easier to read and comprehend.  For example, the most common change that I made was deleting every ending "-e" (in words such as "goe," "doe," flye," and "spye") if the Standard American English version of the word did not end with an "-e."  Another decision I made was to gloss easily definable out-of-use words (such as "whirry," "tow," and "wend") and to footnote out-of-use words that would benefit from both a definition and a comment on possible variations in meaning (such as "fease," "hearth," and "gloss").  Footnotes were also given to any words or phrases that required historical context.  Furthermore, because I was working with a ballad that was set to a specific tune, I decided not to make any changes that would alter the meter.  Therefore, I kept "o'er" instead of switching it to the more modern form, "over," because that change would have resulted in an inconsistent number of syllables.  Finally, I did not make any changes to the punctuation or capitalization contained in the original text because I wanted my translation to appear aesthetically and stylistically similar.

Works Cited

"Feeze."  The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, Volume 2.  Century Company, 1914. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

"Heydeguyes."  Colonial Dictionary.  Colonial Sense, 2012.  Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press, 2012. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

Wright, Allen W.  Puck: That Shrewd and Knavish Sprite Called Robin Goodfellow.  Allen W.      Wright, 2004. Web. 7 Dec. 2012.

The Mad-Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow[1]

(To the tune of Dulcina)

Attributed to Ben Jonson - 1628

From Oberon[2] in Fairy Land

the King of Ghosts and shadows[3] there,

Mad Robin I at his command,

am sent to view the night sports here.

What revel[4] rout°                                                                                                               °gathering

Is kept about

In every corner where I go,

I will o'er see,[5]

And merry be,

And make good sport with ho ho ho.[6]

More swift than[7] lightning can I fly,

and round about this ayrie[8] welkin° soon,                                                                                  °sky

And in a minute's space descry°                                                                                         °perceive

each thing that's done beneath the Moon:

There's not a Hag

Nor Ghost shall wag,

Nor cry Goblin where I do go,

But Robin I

Their feats will spy

And fear them home with ho ho ho.

If any wanderers I meet

that from their night sports do trudge° home                                                        °walk laboriously

With counterfeiting voice I greet,

and cause them on with me to roam

Through woods, through lakes,

Through bogs, through brakes°                                                                             °clumps of bushes

O'er bush and brier with them I go,

I call upon

Them to come on,

And wend° me laughing ho ho ho.                                                                °change their direction

Sometimes I meet them like a man,

sometimes an ore, sometimes a hound,

And to a horse I turn me can,

to trip and trot about them round.

But if to ride

By back they stride,

More swift than wind away I go,

O'er hedge and lands,

Through pools and ponds,

I whirry° laughing ho ho ho.                                                                            °rapidly/continuously

When lads and lasses merry be,

With possets[9] and with junkets[10] fine,

Unseen of all the company,

I eat their cakes and sip their wine:

and to make sport,

I fart and snort,

And out the candles I do blow,

The maids I kiss,

They shriek who's this

I answer nought but ho ho ho.

Yet now and then the maids to please,

I card° at midnight up their wool:                                                               °combing out impurities

And while they sleep, I snort, fart, and fease,[11]                                                                    

with wheel to threads their flax I pull:

I grind at mill

Their malt up hill,

I dress their hemp, I spin their tow°                                                             °unworked fiber of flax

If any wake,

And would me take,

I wend° me laughing ho ho ho.                                                                                               °depart       

When house or hearth[12] do sluttish lie,

I pinch the Maids there black and blue,

And from the bed, the bed-clothes I

pull off, and lay them naked to view:

twixt° sleep, and wake                                                                                                         °between

I do them take,

And on the key cold floor them throw,

If out they cry

Then forth fly I,

and loudly laugh I ho ho ho.

When any need to borrow ought,°                                                                                      °anything

we lend them what they do require,

And for the use demand we nought,°                                                                                              °nothing

our own is all we do desire:

If to repay

They do delay

Abroad amongst them then I go,

And night by night

I them affright

With pinching, dreams, and ho ho ho.

When lazy queens have naught to do,

but study how to cog° and lie,                                                                                                             °cheat

To make debate and mischief too

twixt one another secretly:

I mark their gloss[13]

And do disclose

To them that they had wronged so,

When I have done

I get me gone

And leave them scolding ho ho ho.

When men do traps and engines set

in loop-holes where the vermin creep,

That from their folds° and houses fet[14]                                                    °pen for domestic animals

their ducks and geese, their lambs and sheep,

I spy the gin

And enter in,

And seems a vermin taken so

But when they there

approach me near

I leap out laughing ho ho ho.

By Wells and Gills[15] in meadows green,                                                                   

we nightly dance our heydeguyes,[16]

And to our fairy king and queen

we chant our moon-light harmonies,

When larks 'gin[17] sing                                                                                                

Away we fling,

And babes newborn steal as we go,

An elf in bed

We leave instead,

And wend us laughing ho ho ho.

From hag-bred Merlins, time have I

thus nightly reveled to and fro:

And for my pranks men call me by

the name of Robin Goodfellow:

Fiends, ghosts, and sprites

That haunt the nights,

The Hags and Goblins do me know,

And Beldames° old                                                                                                        °old women

By feats have told,

So Vale, Vale°, ho ho ho.                                                                                         °farewell (Latin)

F I N I S.°                                                                                                                       °end (Latin)

London, Printed for H.G.[18]

---

[1] Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, is a common character in English fairy mythology.  An example of a Puck character can be found in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (OED).  The original spelling of "Robbin Good-fellow" has been altered so that there is only one "b" and there is no hyphen in "Goodfellow".

[2]  Oberon is the king of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Oberon is often presented as Robin Goodefellow's father.  (Allen W. Wright)

[3] The original "shadowes" was replaced with the Standard American English "shadows."  Any time there was an ending "-e" that is no longer in use, I deleted it. 

[4] The original "revell" was changed to "revel" by dropping the second "l."  To "revel" is "to engage in wild or noisy recreation or festivities, esp. those involving drinking and dancing" (OED).

[5] I kept all uses of "o'er," instead of changing them to "over," in order to keep the meter consistent, which is important in a ballad.

[6] "Ho ho ho" is Robin Goodfellow's trademark laugh (Allen W. Wright).

[7] "Then" was changed to "than" so that the line made sense.  This change is repeated throughout.

[8] After much deliberation, I chose to keep the original word, "ayrie," instead of changing it to "airy," which was used in Allen W. Wright's translation.  "Ayrie" is "a high vantage point," which fits with the context of the stanza (OED).

[9] "Possets" are drinks "made from hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or other liquor, flavored with sugar, herbs, spices, etc" (OED).  They were considered delicacies.

[10] "Junkets" are dishes "consisting of curds sweetened and flavored, served with a layer of scalded cream on the top"  (OED).  They were also considered delicacies.

[11] "Fease," which was also written as "feeze," seems to have been used as a double entendre.  It can mean both "to sneeze," which fits with the two words that immediately precede it, and it can also mean "to untwist the ends of anything made of threads," which fits with the references made to wool, threads, flax, hemp, and tow (The Century Dictionary).

[12] The word used in the original text is "harth," which is the abbreviated form of "hearth."  A "hearth" can mean either the "floor of a fireplace" or the "home" (OED). In this context, I believe "hearth" is used to mean the latter.

[13] One definition of "gloss" is a "deceptive appearance" (OED).  By marking the gloss, the speaker reveals to the wronged individuals what the lazy queens have tried to disguise.

[14] "Fet" is an abbreviated form of "fetch."  I decided not to change the original "fet" to "fetch" because I did not want to disrupt the rhyme.  (OED)

[15] "Wells" and "Gills" appeared as "Wels" and "Gils" in the original text.  I changed them both to the modern spelling with the extra "-l."  A "gill" is "a deep rocky cleft or ravine, usually wooded and forming the course of a stream." (OED)

[16] The original word, "heyday guise," was an incorrect phonetic spelling.  The word that the writer was trying to produce was likely "heydeguyes," which was a"16th and 17th century country dance." (Colonial Dictionary)

[17] Allen W. Wright's translation adds an apostrophe before the word "gin" in order to suggest that it is an abbreviation for "again."  I kept "gin" because I did not want to disrupt the meter, but I did add the apostrophe.

[18] According to Allen W. Wright's introduction, this ballad was published in London by Henry Gosson ("H.G.") as part of the 1628 Roxburghe Ballads.

Becca Brummett - An excellent Ballad Intituled, "The Constancy of Susanna: to an excellent new tune" (Anon.)

This ballad tells the story of Susanna and the Elders from the biblical Book of Daniel.  In the English translation of the Book of Daniel the collection of tales was part of the canon of Major Prophets, but in the original Hebrew scripture the Book of Daniel was part of the canon of the books of Law. Though this tale individually more clearly represents its placement in the book of Law, the overall purpose of the Book of Daniel was to instruct, those such as Susanna in this story, and admonish, those such as the Elders in this story, the people of God in their crisis of faith. In the original scripture of this story the two different trees represent the punishment that later befalls the Elders. However, in this ballad version of the story the two types of trees symbolize different religious interpretations and themes of the story.

In my edition of the text most of the words have been modernized and all of the words have been standardized.  For example, instead of finding different versions of a word such as “espy’d” and “espide” the edited rendering of the text standardizes the language and presents the modern spelling with “espied.” However, some words have been kept in their original spelling as a opposed to being modernized.  These original spellings were left unchanged because the modern equivalent of the original word would jeopardize the ballad’s cadence. However, the punctuation of the text has been kept in its original form.

An excellent Ballad Intituled, The Constancy of Susanna.
To an excellent new tune

There dwelt a man in Babylon,
of reputation great by fame:
He took to wife a fair woman,
Susanna she was called by name,
A woman fair and virtuous,
Lady, Lady,
Why should we not of her learn thus
to live godly?

Virtuously her life she led,
she feared God, she stood in awe,
As in the story we have read,
was well brought up in Moses Law.
Her parents they were godly folk,
Lady, Lady,
Why should we not then sing and talk,
of this Lady.

That year two Judges there was made
which were the Elders of Babylon,
To Joachim’s house was all their trade,
who was Susanna’s husband then,
Joachim was a great rich man,
Lady, Lady,
These Elders oft to his house came
for this Lady.

Joachim had an orchard by,
fast joining to his house or place,
Whereas Susanna commonly
her self did daily there solace,
And that these Elders soon espied,
Lady, Lady,
And privately themselves did hide
for that Lady.

Her chaste and constant life was tried,
by these two Elders of Babylon,
A time convenient they espied,
to have this Lady all alone,
In his Orchard it came to pass,
Lady, Lady.
Where she alone her self did wash
her fair body.

These Elders came to her anon,
and thus they said, fair dame God spied,
Thy doors are fast, thy maids are gone,
consent to us, and do this deed:
For we are men of no mistrust,
Lady, Lady,
And yet to thee we have a lust,
O fair Lady.

If that to us thou dost say nay,
a testimonial we will bring,
We will say that one with thee lay;
how can thou then avoid the thing and
Therefore consent and to us turn,
Lady, Lady,
For we to thee in lust do burn,
O fair Lady.

Then did she sigh, and said alas,
now woe is me on every [text unidentifiable],
Was ever wretch in such a case?
shall I consent and do this deed?
Whether I do or do it not,
Lady, Lady,
It is my death right well I [text unidentifiable],
O true Lady.

Better it were for me to fall
into your hands this day guiltless,
Then that I would consent at all,
to this your shameful wickedness,
And even with that (whereas she stood)
Lady, Lady,
Unto to the Lord she cried aloud
pitifully.

These Elders both likewise again,
against Susanna aloud they cried,
Their filthy lust could not obtain,
their wickedness, they sought to hide
Unto her friends they then her brought
Lady, Lady,
And with all speed the life they sought
of that Lady.

The second part. To the same tune.

On the morrow she was brought forth
before the people there to stand,
That they might hear and know the truth
how these two Elders Susanna found,

The Elders swore and thus did say,
Lady, Lady,
Now that they saw a young man lay
with that Lady.

Judgment there was, for no offence,
Susanna causeless then must die,
These Elders bore such evidence,
against her they did verify,
Who were believed then indeed,
Lady, Lady,
Against Susanna to proceed,
that she should die.

Susanna’s friends that stood her by,
they did lament, and were full woe,
When as they saw no remedy,
but that to death she then must go,
Lady, Lady,
In God was all her hope and trust,
to him did cry.

The Lord her voice heard and beheld,
the Daughter’s cry of Israel,
His spirit he raised in a child,
whose name was called young Daniel,
Who cried aloud whereas he stood,
Lady, Lady,
I am clear of the guiltless blood
of this Lady.

Are you such fools quoth Daniel then?
in judgment you have not done well,
For yet the right way have you gone,
to judge a daughter of Israel,
By this witness of false disdain,
Lady, Lady,
Wherefore to judgment turn again
for that Lady.

And when to judgment they were set,
he called for those wicked men:
And soon he did them separate,
putting the one from the other, then,
He asked the first where he did see
that fair Lady,
He said under a Mulberry tree[i],
who lied falsely.

Thou lies said Daniel, on thy head,
thy sentence is before the Lord,
He bid that forth he might be led.
and bring the other that bore record,
To see how they two did agree
for this Lady,
He said under a Pomegranate tree[ii],
who lied falsely.

Said Daniel as he did before,
behold the messenger of the Lord
Stands waiting for you at the door,
even to cut thee with a sword.
And even with that the multitude,
aloud did cry,
Give thanks to God, so to conclude
for this Lady.

They dealt like with these wicked men
according as the Scripture says,
They did as with their neighbor then,
by Moses law were put to death,
The innocent preserved was,
Lady, Lady,
As God by Daniel brought to pass,
for this Lady.

Finis.

Printed at London for John
Wright, near pie-corner.

---

[i] The Mulberry tree is commonly found featured in stories in which ancient biblical battles are fought and biblical kings receive instructions from God in order to persevere against their enemies.

[ii] The Pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness because it is said to have 613 seeds corresponding to the number of commandments in the Torah.

Ashley Rynard - "Any thing for a quiet life, or, The Married mans bondage to a curst wife" (Anon.)

           This anonymous ballad written in 1620 tells the story of a well-intentioned and eager young man and the misery he suffers by quickly marrying a woman who proves to cause him a lot of trouble and worry throughout his life. The text seems to characterize marriage in a negative way in that a young wife uses her husband to fulfill her every need and desire and he does so only to maintain a “quiet life.” I found this text to be not only humorous but also extremely intriguing in how it gives the woman the power in the marriage instead of having her be the ideal submissive wife to her husband. An important correlation that this text has with another is the 1662 publication of “Any thing for a quiet life: A Comedy” written by Thomas Middleton and published by Francis Kirkman. To my understanding, the play is an extended version of the ballad, dealing with the same issues of a high maintenance wife and a miserable husband.

            In my translation of the text, I decided to keep the original spelling for pronunciation and rhyming purposes to retain as much authenticity as I could. I glossed any word that I found to possibly be confusing for the reader, obsolete, or which meaning might have changed. I footnoted, however, words that needed further explanation for a variety of reasons, such as multiple meanings, no clear definition, or unclear purposes of devices within the text. A couple of words in the primary text were indistinguishable and were left blank in the translation, but hypothesized in a footnote since I could not find a second copy of the text. In my translation, I used the Oxford English Dictionary to define obsolete words and to create educated guesses about parts of the text that were unclear. Overall, the given translation is a good representation of the original text, and hopefully, the glosses and footnotes provide the necessary supplemental information for readers to fully appreciate the text.     

     

Any thing for a quiet life; Or the Married mans

bondage to a curst Wife. To the tune of Oh no, no, no, not yet;

or Ile never love thee more.



A fly* thing for a quiet life                             desirable

            A yong* man saine* woulded^[i]:          young, sane

To serve his Master out his time,

            and please his Mistris* too:                 Mistress

His bondage wisht for liberty,

            That he might have a wife

At his alone will, for to doe* still                   do

            any thing for a quiet life.

In haste he chose himselfe then one,

            and quickly was he wed:

But crooked cares of household charge

            molested* much his head.                   troubled

His wedding shooes* no sooner off,              shoes

            but his commanding wife

Did make him pray, and often lay,

            Any thing for a quiet life.

His wife (yong Lasse*) grew wáton^[ii] sick,     girl

            within a day or two:

And long’d, she knew not well for what,

            as many women doe.

The daintiest things that could be got,

            he gave unto his wife,

And for her sake, did undertake

            any thing for a quiet life.

With Plums and Peares, & Cheeries ripe,

            of twenty shillings a pound,

With []^[iii] newly from the bloome,

            if any might be found.

All which he must goe seeke forthwith,

            to please his longing wife:

Thus married men doe now and then,

            to have a quiet life.

***

Seven Holydayes in one weeke,

            she still desired to make,

And every day to lye till noone,

            for feare her head should ake*.          ache

For want of sleepe would trouble lose

            this yong teeming* wife                     pregnant

That would have dyed if he denyed

            any thing for a quiet life.

For breakefast in her bed she had

            a Cawole of Duskadine^[iv]:  (Larks,^[v]

And then with Woodcocks^[vi] and with

            she must rise up and dine:

Where be kind-hearted married man,

            gives welcome to his wife:

For doe but crave, quoth he, and have,

            any thing for a quiet life.

           

At last her Child-bed time drew on,

            where money must be spent:

In dainty Lawnes* & Cambricks* fine           fine white linens

            or else no way content.

Her house must be as well let out,

            as any Citie wife:

Thus filled with care, be must not spare,

            any thing for a quiet life.

Her Nurses weekely charge likewise,

            with many a Gossips feast: (light,

He well perceiv’d, when purse grew

            and emptied was his Chest.

The Sugar Plums, & Sweet Conserves

            to please his Child-bed Wife:

Both night and day, griev’d him to lay,

            any thing for a quiet life.

***

The second part. To the same tune.

These Christning charges over-past,

            the Churching day came on:

Against which time, her Taylor must

            her garded* Gowne bring home.        ornamented as with lace, embroidery, etc.

Her Petti-coat of Stammell* red,                    coarse woolen cloth undergarment

            new given unto his wife:    (said,

Which charges paid, this yong-man

            any thing for a quiet life.

Thus after many a brave Carowse^[vii],

            upon her Churching bay,

Her tattling Gossips her perswade,

            in this her rich array,

To take the comforts of the ayre*,                  gravelly beach or sandbank

            and pleasures of a wife:

While he at home, saves like a mome^[viii],

            any thing for a quiet life.

Unto her Nurse-child then must she

            In []^[ix] and joy

Some ten miles distance for to see,

            the ol age of her Boy.

Well mounted on an ambling Nagge*,           steady paced horse

            with some kinde neighbours wife,

Whilst hee poore soule must sing in dole*,     grief or sorrow

            any thing for a quiet life.

Not any meeting seven miles,

            where Gallants doe repayre*:             make one’s way

But she will brave it with the best

            and for no charges spare.

If fault her husband finde therewith,

            she proves a frowning wife,

And tyres* him so, till he bestow                   tires or exhausts

            any thing for a quiet life.

***

His old acquaintance must he not

            at any time goe see:

Creept she grant, and give him leave,

            or there in presense be.

And then his purse he must peeld^[x] up

            to his commanding wife:

While he must say Good women pay

            any thing for a quiet life.

Thus peere by peere, he spent his dayes,

            in troubles and in cares:

A warning fit for him which thus,

            himself to marriage snares.

The onely* hell upon this earth,                      only

            to have an angry wife:

To make us say both night and day,

            any thing for a quiet life.

Let yong-men all take heed by this,

            how they doe match and marry:

He leads a life of libertie^[xi],

            that doth the longest tarry.

It is the formost* step to woe,                        foremost

            to wed unto a wife,

That will have still, at her owne will,

            any thing for a quiet life.

                        FINIS.

       At London Printed by G. P.

---

[i] I could not find the definition or any information about this word through resources; however, given the context, it can probably be determined to be used to mean that a sane young man would aim to achieve a quiet life.

[ii] Again, I could not find any information on this word. It could mean a specific type of illness or a qualitative description, such as “very,” to describe the severity of the sickness.

[iii] The word is indistinguishable; however, some letters of the word are recognizable. It seems that it is something like “Pel**ds,” and given its capitalization and context, might be the name of some sort of rare fruit or flower.

[iv] I could not find what this meant anywhere. It is assumed that it is a type of food since it mentions breakfast in the previous line.

[v] A beginning parenthesis with a single word and comma at the end of the line appears three times throughout the piece. This occurs also in similar works, but it does not seem to make sense in the surrounding contexts.

[vi] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a woodcock is a migratory bird, related to the snipe, common in Europe and the British Isles. It is highly regarded as food.

[vii] This word was also difficult to identify. Many sources acknowledge “carouse” as pertaining to reveling in drinking. However, given the context, I am not sure if this adequately serves as a definition for the word provided in the text.

[viii] This word seems to have multiple meanings, a few of which fit the context here. However, I believe that the most useful meaning of this word would be an “affectionate term for an older lady,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

[ix] This word is indistinguishable. It appears to be perhaps “tollity,” which does not appear in any of the research that I have done. However, “tolling” during this time refers to the sounding of a large bell by slow strokes. This might have some relation to the word in the text.

[x] No direct definition from the Oxford English Dictionary properly matched the word in its context. However, given the definitions that were provided, I assume that the word means that the husband’s use of money was accountable to his demanding wife.

[xi] Here “libertie” appears with different spelling than it does in the first part of the text; however, given the context, one can assume that it still has the same denotation of the first.